Joined: Fri Apr 01, 2011 11:51 amPosts: 5874Location: United States of New England

i love these 2 blog posts about public breastfeeding.im very uncomfortable with the idea of public breastfeeding (for myself not for seeing other people do it)i have pretty bad social anxiety so any sort of drawing attention to myself makes me very uncomfortable and public nursing does that even if you dont want it to!

these two blog posts make me feel more empowered to do it at some point (and it would make my life easier)and even cooler i think is that both posts were written by men! that is awesome!

LP, I was so shy about breastfeeding in public for months -- probably 5 or 6 months! I even used to pump and bring a bottle to try to avoid breastfeeding in front of other people (Beetroot was so picky about temperature, this caused even more problems and he usually wanted way more than just one bottle). I even hid in bathrooms to nurse! My parents are really anti-breastfeeding in front of people; my dad made me cover up in front of him and when I was uncovered around my mom, she'd make fun of me and say, "eww!! ew!!" when Beet popped off a boob.

BUT they were the only people who ever said anything bad about it to me and now I am an old pro and will whip out a boob in front of pretty much anybody. Usually, people either can't tell or don't care! (I live in an area where the breastfeeding rate is REALLY low, so it's not like I live in a really progressive area where all the crunchy moms are doing it.) I was out of town visiting my in-laws last weekend and breastfed in front of all of them and no one said a thing, except my brother-in-law, who told me a funny story about an Irish auntie who always had a kid on the boob and a few others running around the house.

We were also visiting some friends while we were there (my friend made us the BEST lentil soup, even though they were fasting for Ramadan* -- how nice is that?!!) and the girl told me she was at a hen night with her friends and one of them had a baby Vax's age and her friend was breastfeeding WHILE BELLYDANCING! How awesome is that?!!

I like those links, BTW!!

* Speaking of Ramadan, my cousin is a VERY conservative Muslim (she's got the hijab and an abaya and all that shizzle) and she will pop a boob out and feed her kids anywhere. I love that.

Joined: Fri Apr 01, 2011 11:51 amPosts: 5874Location: United States of New England

can you guys recommend a good brand of nursing bra for me?because im a cheap mustard i just went to target and bought 2 crappy ones after BP was born. i swear they were the same brand, they're definitely the same size but one is so big that i have to put it on the 3rd set of hooks in the back and the front is very unsupportive. the other one is so tight it cuts into my skin and it inexplicably has two things that remind me of what underwire is made of vertically up against my skin kind of under my arm pit. hurts like heck.ive taken to wearing a nursing tank and a nursing bra at the same time in hopes my boobs wont end up sagging down to my knees. actually if people have recs for nursing tanks ill take those too.

i still havent gotten my bfing necklace yet though they claim it FINALLY shipped. i cant wait to get it.BP wants to constantly have her fingers in her mouth WHILE nursing. ive heard people say how annoying it is that a baby will fiddle with your nipped while nursing but i always assumed it was the OTHER nipple. it's enough to make me almost lose my shiitake.

Do you sew at all? Because I ended up unhappy with pretty much every nursing bra I bought so I ended up buying some elastic and nursing bra clips online and then purchased and converted some regular bras (I got my favorite pre-pregnancy bras -- after almost a year in unflattering nursing bras it felt so luxurious to wear them again!). I got the clips and elastic from here.

Otherwise, what size are you? Do you need a lot of support? Want underwire? Lined/shaped cups? A sleeping/around the house comfort bra?

Oh, and be careful with bras or tanks that put a lot of pressure on your breast tissue! I got repeated clogged ducts from wearing ones that didn't fit right and it was so awful!

I think all of my nursing bras are from Target. My favorite are the sleeping bras, which look like a sports bra and cross in the front. I'm only a 32A before baby, do I didn't need a lot of support. (My friend who is larger thinks these bras caused plugged ducts for her, FYI). My nursing tanks, I ordered super cheap as a 2/pack deal from Walmart.com. My favorite nursing tank was from motherhood maternity (only thing I've ever bought from there!), because it has removable pads that were awesome at hiding nursing pads. I also have a few non-nursing bras that I love for nursing. I think they are Hanes Barely There or Just my Size... They are elasticy and I originally bought them to where while pregnant. Again, not a lot of support, but really comfy.

I bought cheap nursing bras from H and M (since we don't have Target here). They're really comfy, all cotton, no wires--though as a previously totally flat chested person I don't need much support. Downside is they stretch out mysteriously and I have to readjust the straps every time they come out of the wash.

Oh, I need to put this on my list of things to do in America (because the bras will be like half the price and if I'm with my mom, she might even pay for one :p). Do you have any suggestions particularly for those of us that are super busty? I'm thinking some places (like H&M) are just a waste of time because they won't have anything close to my size. Does Target carry something for big boobies?

Oh, you know Freya does make good busty bras. I don't necessarily need a nursing one now, but something that's easy to get in and out of. I've not heard of Soma. There is a large Freya selection at a store here in Ox, but no nursing ones.

I just went to look for a sports bra at that shop actually last weekend. I took Freya with me and we went to look at the Freya display. She's been hunting for F's everywhere we go, but the one on the sign was small and some funny script so she didn't catch it right away. However, the ones on the bra hangers were in Arial-type font and suddenly she says "dere's F! nother one! nother one! nother one!". Simple pleasures.

Joined: Fri Apr 01, 2011 11:51 amPosts: 5874Location: United States of New England

What kind I take for a blah stomach?ive felt like crepe for 2 days and everything I eat hurts my tummy. Kelly mom says *continual* use of pepto bismol had a risk of a Reyes.Does that mean I just shouldn't use it every day but a couple times would be ok?

LP, I just saw your post and it made me laugh/since in horrified remembrance... The magician used to always try to stuff his hand in his mouth while nursing.

As for nursing bras, I have huge boobs and didn't have a whole lot of success with nursing specific bras. I had a Freya one that was underwire (which I like) but the underwire came up super high in the armpits (didn't like). And some Medela underwire ones which were okay. I have a Bravado one that a billion people recommended to me and while I don't find it supportive at all, I still sleep in that thing because it's comfy.

Eventually I just learned to pop 'em up and out of my normal bras. Works way better for me.

tiny wu found (because her favorite hobby is digging through the cupboards and bookshelves) a brochure from health services on getting started breastfeeding. It is full of photos of nursing babies and is now her favorite "book." Babies! Nipples! Yay!

Joined: Fri Apr 01, 2011 11:51 amPosts: 5874Location: United States of New England

so BabyPunk has all of a sudden decided to sleep 6-8 hours at night which believe me is AWESOME. i forgot how good more than 3-4 hours of sleep at a time felt.

however i feel like i read somewhere that going that long at night without nursing isnt a great thing if you want to be BFing for a long time. it can lead early weaning because your milk supply goes down???

is that BFing urban legend or should i get her up in the middle of the night to nurse?

6 hours seems ok but im wondering if the 8 hours is bad?

she still nurses like every 1.5-2 hours during the day so i feel like it shold all even out.

Yay for sleep! And no, you don't need to wake her. Your supply will adjust. Ada started sleeping really long stretches in the first month and she nursed until 26 months (and would have kept going if I didn't have Alice). And if you're nursing pretty frequently during the day that should make up for it.

Don't wake the baby! Like Sashi said, your body will adjust and BabyPunk may just take a little more during each feeding to make up for it throughout the day. Will started sleeping 10-12 hours around 4 months and I never had supply issues from it. Sometimes I would be tempted to wake him, because I would get so full... But it all works out. Enjoy the sleep!!

I think you only have to worry about it if you have supply problems. I know some women with low supply will get up and pump in the middle of the night/very early morning if their kids are sleeping through because prolactin levels are highest then.